Jen's Super Cookies

I like love to bake.  I always have.  However, I don't generally like to eat what I bake.  I'm not a huge sweets person; savory for me please.  Luckily, I have a wonderful husband that is more than willing to take my baked goods to his workplace and "force" them on his co-workers.

Now that I have a 3 year old though, I find she not only wants to help with the baking, she wants to actually eat what we bake.  With her allergy, letting her eat my baked goods meant coming up with new recipes and/or adapting those that I already used.  I've found this endlessly fun, to be honest, and my husbands co-workers don't notice the difference.  Win - win I say.

That said written, I also find myself not wanting my children to consume mass quantities of sweets.  So healthy alternatives are my goal, and my daughter certainly eats her fair share of fruit and vegetables.  But... kids like cookies.  So here is a relative healthy cookie option for your kids.  I've added notes where things can be adapted for different allergy needs (at least when avoiding the top 8 allergies).

Jen's Super Cookies
2 cups oats (You can find certified gluten free ones)
1/2 cup ground nuts or nut butter (I used the leftover ground almond from my fresh almond milk.  Got a nut allergy? try sunflower seed butter)
3 Tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
3 Tbsp raw Cacao (or if you don't have that 1/4 cup chocolate chips is nice)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup apples sauce
1/3 cup honey (or maple syrup if your vegan and don't eat honey)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl, mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.  Pour wet into dry bowl and mix together.  Place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes.  Cookies will look dark and dry, but they are actually very chewy and quite delicious!

Gingerbread Men

I like to include my 3 year old in my cooking endeavors whenever possible.  Its a fun activity for the two of us, and can be a great tool for learning to follow directions (and later on math practice).  We mostly stick to baking; as one, in general, sticks to precise measurements.  We count out the cups, 1/2 cups, etc, together, I fill the cup, she empties it into the bowl.  She does some stirring, then I do the real stirring; she rolls out the dough, then I do the real rolling; etc.  It's a great activity.

This week, we have been doing a gingerbread man theme.  You know the story "Run, run, as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man."  So we baked gingerbread men (we truly ended up with an army!) as another part of our theme.  These are, of course, dairy free gingerbread men.  Make them with your kids!

Gingerbread Cookie Dough

1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbs non-dairy margarine (we use Earth Balance)
1 Tbs coconut milk (you can use any milk substitute you have on hand; rice, soy, almond, etc.)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Heat molasses to boiling over medium high heat, stirring constantly to prevent burning.  Stir in sugar, margarine and milk, remove from heat.

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl.  Pour molasses mixture into bowl and stir well.  Make the dough into a ball and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Roll out the dough on a floured counter and cut into shapes.  Bake the cookies on a non-stick cookie sheet, 5 to 7 minutes.  Remove from cookie sheets and let cool on a rack.  Decorate with frosting and/or candies.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I thought I would start us off with a good dairy free treat, cookies.  These are a hit in our house and I hope they are in yours as well.

I often hear people asking about chocolate, "doesn't that have milk in it?"  While it is true that some chocolate is made with dairy products, not all are.  I personally get the vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips available from Whole Foods.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup non-dairy margarine (we prefer Earth Balance)

1 egg

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 F.  In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg until creamy.  Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 3 inches apart (do not flatten).  Bake cookies 8 to 10 minutes, until very lightly browned.  Remove from oven and let cool on cookie sheet about 5 minutes, then move to wire rack.